


What Dreams May Come

by JustAWeirdoHi



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Child Abuse, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Grooming, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Manipulation, Manipulative Relationship, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 09:40:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17620046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAWeirdoHi/pseuds/JustAWeirdoHi
Summary: Slade is all Tara has.Slade knows this all too well.





	What Dreams May Come

**Author's Note:**

> I made a little fic with my top fucked up DC OTP.

Tara laid in bed, staring at the closed door in the nearly pitch black room, burrowing underneath the covers.  
Feeling comfortable now, the geomancer shut her eyes.

-

"Rest now, you have training in the morning."

"I.. I don't think we should do that again.."

"You need to train, you need to learn control and patience."

"Not training, I mean /this/."

The little blonde sat up, pulling away from the man beside her.  
She didn't know why, but she began to feel guilt again. A kind of shame. It was never consistent, sometimes she'd be fine, even happy, but then times like this it felt horrible.

Unbeknownst to her it was simply the effects of the serum wearing off.

Slade knew it. He could tell when it was time for a refill. But he approached it carefully, not wanting her to start lashing out and trigger an earthquake  
"You're just tired. Here," He left the bed to fetch her a light and cigarette. Requiring another way to better control her, Slade had began bribing her with cigarettes and alcohol, she apparently getting hooked on the former.

She took the lit cigarette, deeply inhaling through her mouth. The nicotine calmed her nerves, but not enough to shake the feeling that something was wrong.  
With her free hand she pulled the blanket over her bare chest, feeling too exposed, even if she should've been used to it by now.

There was no telling how long it was going on for. She stopped paying attention to the days. She never had birthdays, she figured she didn't need to have them. Slade had always given her gifts and treats, so why have a birthday?  
She couldn't ask for that anyway, she already believed he'd done so much for her already, took her in in her time of need. He was the only father figure she had. She knew what her real father thought of her. To avoid the scandal of the affair, the King of Markovia exiled her to America before she was even born.  
Her country, her own family, didn't want her. They rejected her.  
She didn't know what a real family was, what real friends were.  
And then her powers were forced to awaken.  
All she had was Slade.  
Slade was her savior. He offered food, shelter, love...  
But this nagging feeling kept coming back.

"You know I love you, right?"  
His fingers stroked through her tussled golden hair.  
"Yeah…"  
Tara muttered back, eyes sliding shut as she fought the conflict in her head.  
"That's why we do this. It's how we show we love each other, remember?"  
Slade kept petting her, ignoring the bruising over her arms, letting his poison seep into the air. He didn't think he needed to do much, she was so easily manipulated it was barely an issue anymore.

"But we do this when you're mad too…"  
She lightly knitted her brows together.  
It got confusing. He'd seem to use this as a form of punishment and reward. It could be soft, loving, or angry and violent.  
It made her heart hurt, leaving her soaked in confusion, anger, and pain.  
And then he'd give her 'medicine'. A shot that was supposed to help ease her, for her own health. But the more she took the more rage she felt as it wore off. She despised those needles.

"And it feels good, right?"  
He continued, waiting for the answer he knew he'd get.

Again it confused her. At first it was painful, then uncomfortable, then enjoyable. Physically it began to feel good, but emotionally, mentally, it didn't.  
Slade knew all too well what he was doing.  
"Yeah…"  
"See, it's not bad. You like it."  
All too easy.  
It took all he had not to smirk at his own success. He'd save that for later. For now he'd silently hold that pride that beamed each time anyone fell for his deception. But he had extra measures to prevent things from spiraling out of control.

Lack of control was something he would /not/ allow.

"We can take the day off tomorrow. You can just relax."  
He softly pressed his lips to hers.  
He could sense it. She was starting to over think.

How that pretty little head of hers struggled so hard for the truth of things as if it was fresh air.  
He'd make sure she drowned.

Gently lifting her chin to stare into her light blue eyes he reassured her again.  
"You can trust me, Terr-bear."

After finishing the cigarette, Tara squashed the end into the ashtray by the drawer.  
It was going to be alright, she thought. It had to be.

Slade came up with an excuse to leave the room, something about checking security. She didn't pay much attention to it. She was tired again.  
After he left she laid on her side, trying to ignore that uneasy feeling.

As she began falling asleep, the bed creaked.  
He was back, with a fresh needle.

-

"STOP!"  
Tara jumped off the bed and landed on the floor. Gathering herself, she looked up, the room now lit up by the sun's rays bleeding through the curtains. Tara could barely contain herself, hyperventilating while clawing at her chest. Eyes darting around the room, she saw she was alone, as usual. No one else was there, /he/ wasn't there.  
Good... It was alright... It was going to be alright. As always, it was just another night plagued with haunted dreams. But she was safe.  
Slowly the fear left her, the nightmare sinking back into the vault of her subconscious.  
She felt calm, at peace again.

At least until the next night.

**Author's Note:**

> Man I love them.


End file.
